Excessive wear on trailer tires

[Bob_VT]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Tractor supply sells a decent 3500 lb axle.......

 

[180shabah]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

i have the same thing with my boat tires, its how much sway my boat does behind my truck, the faster i go the more sway, single axle trailer. it continues to tear up the inside of the tires. the only way to slow it is to slow down and go 55 rather than 65 on the freeway, it helps and also boosts gas mileage.

Rebalance your trailer to stop the sway....

Inside tire wear is NOT the result of the sway. You most likely have an undersized or bent axle as well. Of course, an axle problem could certainly contribute to your sway problem.

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Find a shop that aligns big rigs and ask them what they think. I had the same problem and had them relign the axle. Turns out the factory/dealer assembly was sloppy and a realignment took care of it. And a big rig shop should be able to set both camber and toe.

Well worth the effort in having a pro check it out.

 

[krakatoa]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

I had the same trouble with my tires wear very badly on the inside take a look at this thread to check it out how I resolve it.
Hope this helps!!!!

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=376995

 

[j_martin]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

(edit) foot in mouth.

 

[Remy A]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

After 15 days the shop put on a new pair of tires @ the cost of 180 bucks to me. They claim that there is nothing wrong with the trailer; they claim low tire pressure caused that wear! I asked what the pressure was in the old tires and that threw them for a loop - took them awhile to make up a answer.

I have the boat and trailer back home now with new tires and all of you can bet that for each and every time that boat leaves the garage - those tires will be checked. I am wondering what their story will be next year for the same worn tires? Perhaps my driving skills will come into question or that I must be carrying too many fish in the livewell.

Something is wrong with that trailer but until I take it to a real mechanic that knows his trade - I will just continue to guess. Tracker has probably lost a return customer and Lund has found a new one.

 

[Bravo]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Man that's a load of BS. Of course they're gonna make it look like its your fault. Wouldn't want to have to spend any money on their goof up now would they? Don't just settle for a brush off, but rather try another shop for a second opinon. Also try a framing square on the asphalt against your tire and see what that tells you.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Agreed - pure BS.

You need to be dealing directly with Tracker Marine and not the dealer.

Did you ever contact Caroline w/ BoatUS???

 

[Bravo]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Agreed - pure BS.

You need to be dealing directly with Tracker Marine and not the dealer.

Did you ever contact Caroline w/ BoatUS???

I agree. What the dealer is counting on as well as hoping on is that you'll think they are right. Please do not be a victim... You spent your hard earned money on their product, and it is not as it should be.

 

[Remy A]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Oh, how I tried to deal with Tracker Marine! They have somekind of staff there; Jeff Gardener, who at first came off as being interested, turned out to be a "catch me if you can" man. Tracker Marine never attempted to contact me about my problems. (I must have been put on a do not call list.) I made several phone calls and sent emails. No response ever from Tracker.

My experience with Tracker Marine leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. How can any company help their customers if they refuse to make contact? Heck, I must have forgot that it's all about the $$$ and not the customer. Silly me!

 

[Bravo]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

If it were me, I would be knocking on Tracker's front door. There is a way to resolve this, and it should not cost you a dime. Maybe BBB? Some seem to forget that the best and worst advertisement can be word of mouth. Make some more calls to different people and don't give up like they want you to do.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Champion Trailers can build a nice spindle lube axle with brake flanges to your specs...you need to know the hub to hub measurments and the spring center to spring center measurments...they made me a 3500 one for my trailer about 6 years ago and no problems with tire wear since....

http://www.championtrailers.com/spdlubax.html

 

[Remy A]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

That trailer has been causing problems since the day I bought it with the boat. The first thing I changed was that the trailer did not have any brakes. I was thinking safety because it is a large and heavy boat -- I had brakes installed on the trailer by Tracker. Gosh, I felt that was a good safety thing for me to do. When it came time to hook the boat onto the back of the truck; the cables that attach to the trailer hitch now were too short. Tracker then added 2 small clips to the hitch to attach the cables. I requested that they replace the cables with longer ones but they replied that "there are no other cables available." So, if the boat ever comes off the ball of the hitch - those cables will tear quickly from those little clips. That equals a runaway trailer. So much with thinking about safety!

Not much time after that is when I first had Tracker look at the tire wear on the trailer. (It is just like the pictures I posted before). Then... They claimed to have changed out both axles and replaced the tires. (Tires for sure). Now a couple of years later and the same problem but this time it is the tire pressure or my over-filled live well! I am not a happy camper!

The suggestion of getting the BBB involved sounds like a great idea; I really do wonder exactly how much good that would do? Its worth a try.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

I noticed two maybe three posts on trailer tongue weight, less tongue weight shifts stress to the axle right,? axle capacity is effected.

 

[Remy A]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

After speaking with several different boaters, some have suggested that the tire wear is caused by the boat and trailer bouncing along the highway, shifting weight with the angles of the road. I don't know about that but I do intend to have a friend follow behind and video tape the boat and trailer while going down the highway just to see what actually is happening. If the video shows the tires toeing out - then probably time to attach braces to the frame and axles. If that doesn't work - just keep the boat in the water at a dock.

 

[The Hammer]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

I have 2 plans of attack here, assuming its the right trailer for the boat which I suspect it is. The first is to turn the axle 180 degrees if you can and see what happens. Or when the wear begins again take the right tire and put in on the left and left tire put on the right, wont fix the problem but you will extend its service. I owned hiway trucks that had developed mystery wear and simply changing the brand of tires helped. Overinflating will cause the centre of the tire to wear and will be much rougher ride for your boat. Underinflating can cause all kinds of weird wear. Im going to assume your live wells are empty.

 

[Tig]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

I skimmed through this thread, lots of good advice.
My $.02 is to collect, document and review facts.
Take the trailer to an alignment shop and have them document the loaded trailer setup. Toe in/out, camber (either could be caused by defect or inadequate axle capacity), axle square to tongue?
Note the weight spec on the trailer.
Take the trailer and boat to the scale and have it weighed.
Would be nice to get the spec on the axle. Sounds like it's not up to the job and is flexing.
Now you have documentation (expert testimony) to review and present.

 

[ifallsguy]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Check around at a truck stop and have them suggest a shop that aligns big rigs and trailers. That's what I did with mine and found the alignment was so far off, the trailer was eating tires. After getting everything right, I have had no issues with the new tires. Cost was about $100 for the time and actual work, but well worth it. And get a fully written statement of what the alignment was before and after the shop works on it.

The alignment specialist that worked on my trailer said the majority of boat and camping trailers are out of alignment when they are delivered. He had purchased an Airstream and the axle was out of alignment. He said he burned through the tires in the trip home (I think it was about 200 miles). Remember, these are put together by people with no alignment rack, transported in bulk and hooked up to your tow vehicle. I don't know of any dealer who really checks out trailer alignment ("it came from the factory so it has to be right").

Do you have or can you get back the old tires? You need to have them if you want to make a claim. They are the only evidence you have for a claim. My bet is the shop disposed of them as fast as they could, knowing they could be used against them.

 

[scagwildcat]

Re: Excessive wear on trailer tires

Here are some pictures of the tires.

its not the axle, measure the spring perch, you will find that it was welded on wrong, i am a landscaper by trade, and have had this happen on new trailers before, i seem to buy the ones that were made on friday afternoon. the only way to fix the problem is to measure were the spring pech is welded to the trailer both front to back and make sure both sides are square if not you must cut them off and re-weld them back on straight.. its like a car, when it need alignment... the way that you can get around this is get trailer tires that have aggressive thread, this seems to last longer then once a year hae the tires dismounted and turn them around. i did this for two years to avoid cuttin/welding and it worked ok..